— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Sun Belt Conference East Division survival is at stake Thursday when Marshall hosts Georgia State at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
The 7 p.m. kickoff is being shown nationally on ESPN2.
Marshall comes into the game at 3-3 and 1-1 in the Sun Belt, while the Panthers are 2-3 and 0-2 in the league.
Both teams lost close games last week. Marshall blew a 23-3 fourth quarter lead and lost 24-23 to Georgia Southern. Georgia State never led on its home field last week in a 21-14 loss to Old Dominion.
This will be the Panthers’ first game outside of the Atlanta city limits, as four of their five previous games were at home and the season opener was at Georgia Tech.
Here are three things to look for in Thursday’s game:
The starting quarterbacks are …?
Both the Herd and Panthers did not name a starting quarterback Thursday night.
Stone Earle and Braylon Braxton had highlight plays last Saturday at Georgia Southern, but Braxton’s two fourth-quarter fumbles tarnished his effort and Earle’s inconsistency in the passing game hurt the Herd.
The Panthers have started Pitt transfer Christian Vielleux all season and he’s put up decent numbers — 1,284 yards and nine touchdowns. Yet Vielleux struggled in last week’s loss to Old Dominion and was replaced by senior Zach Gibson, who went 6-for-6 with 49 yards and a touchdown as he tried to lead a comeback effort.
Defensive standoff
The teams are neck-and-neck statistically in yards allowed per game. Marshall has a slight edge in that category, giving up 395.3 yards to the 405.6 allowed by Georgia State.
Both teams give up 174 yards on the ground.
The statistics say this could favor Marshall, as the Herd scores almost 8 more points per game than the Panthers.
Marshall favors more of a ground-and-pound strategy even white utilizing an Air Raid offense, and the Herd gains more than 90 more yards on the ground than Georgia State.
The Panthers have been more effective through the air, out-gaining Marshall’s pass game by nearly 90 yards.
Seizing opportunities
Marshall head coach Charles Huff hopes some players to have increased production over the last couple of weeks can have an impact Thursday night. MU defensive end Deeve Harris, a Colorado transfer, had five tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble in the Georgia Southern game. Harris took advantage of double teams against fellow defensive end Mike Green.
Marshall cornerback Jacobie Henderson is making an impact with interceptions in each of the last two games.
Marshall has finally integrated the tight end in its passing game and Poca native Toby Payne took advantage against the Eagles with a pair of touchdown catches.
Three of Payne’s five catches this season have been for touchdowns.
Notes
There is a former Marshall player on the Georgia State roster in inside linebacker Jayven Hall, who has not played so far this season.
After Thursday’s game, Marshall will not play for another 16 days. Marshall’s next game is at home November 2 against Louisiana-Monroe at a time yet to be determined.